Soriano as leadoff.

[Skyballer]

I'm using this poll because i'd like to see how many people are eager to see Sori stop leading off.

[Andy]

I thought it was kind of dumb at first, but it's nice being able to have a power threat up if we get anyone on base at the bottom of the order. And if you think about it, our leadoff position would be in constant flux without him there - we'd probably have had Theriot leading off for a while, and probably Fontenot now, and who knows in between. With Soriano there, you don't have to worry about it.

[Skyballer]

I thought it was kind of dumb at first, but it's nice being able to have a power threat up if we get anyone on base at the bottom of the order. And if you think about it, our leadoff position would be in constant flux without him there - we'd probably have had Theriot leading off for a while, and probably Fontenot now, and who knows in between. With Soriano there, you don't have to worry about it.

 

Theriot is a prototypical leadoff hitter, and Alfonso leading off is a waste of his talent.

[Andy]

I thought it was kind of dumb at first, but it's nice being able to have a power threat up if we get anyone on base at the bottom of the order. And if you think about it, our leadoff position would be in constant flux without him there - we'd probably have had Theriot leading off for a while, and probably Fontenot now, and who knows in between. With Soriano there, you don't have to worry about it.

 

Theriot is a prototypical leadoff hitter, and Alfonso leading off is a waste of his talent.

Theriot's OBP is .315, he is not a prototypical leadoff hitter.

 

The quest for a prototypical leadoff hitter is how we ended up shipping 3 good prospects for crappy Juan Pierre.

 

I like Soriano there. If we had a guy like Youkilis from Boston or something I might feel differently, but Soriano gets on base at a decent clip and is doing a good job this year, so I want him to stay there.

[Skyballer]

He has the majority of his homers being of the solo variety, that's a waste of talent.

 

And need I remind you of the slump of Theriot which has drastically hurt his numbers. And the slump is part on Gerald Perry.

 

The slump was only due to a problem in the coordination of Ryan's shoulders.

 

A good hitting coach would have solved that immediately.

[NCCubFan]

Although worded differently, this is also the current poll on the cubs.com home page.

[Skyballer]

Although worded differently, this is also the current poll on the cubs.com home page.

 

I am aware, but i thought people here would be more intelligent.

[Andy]

He has the majority of his homers being of the solo variety, that's a waste of talent.

 

And need I remind you of the slump of Theriot which has drastically hurt his numbers. And the slump is part on Gerald Perry.

 

The slump was only due to a problem in the coordination of Ryan's shoulders.

 

A good hitting coach would have solved that immediately.

The slump is because Ryan is not a particularly great baseball player. I was as excited about him in April and May as anyone but he's come back to earth.

 

If anyone was going to lead off, I'd have DLee do it, but I'm perfectly fine with the Fonz there.

[Andy]

Although worded differently, this is also the current poll on the cubs.com home page.

 

I am aware, but i thought people here would be more intelligent.

We are.

[Skyballer]

He has the majority of his homers being of the solo variety, that's a waste of talent.

 

And need I remind you of the slump of Theriot which has drastically hurt his numbers. And the slump is part on Gerald Perry.

 

The slump was only due to a problem in the coordination of Ryan's shoulders.

 

A good hitting coach would have solved that immediately.

The slump is because Ryan is not a particularly great baseball player. I was as excited about him in April and May as anyone but he's come back to earth.

 

If anyone was going to lead off, I'd have DLee do it, but I'm perfectly fine with the Fonz there.

 

The kid (Ryan) can hit. Period.

[NCCubFan]

Although worded differently, this is also the current poll on the cubs.com home page.

 

I am aware, but i thought people here would be more intelligent.

I didn't mean to imply that you shouldn't have the same poll here. I think it's interesting at times to run the same poll here that's on another site and see how the results compare.

[Skyballer]

Although worded differently, this is also the current poll on the cubs.com home page.

 

I am aware, but i thought people here would be more intelligent.

I didn't mean to imply that you shouldn't have the same poll here. I think it's interesting at times to run the same poll here that's on another site and see how the results compare.

The results on both pages shock me.

[Handlebar McSkullet]

I thought it was kind of dumb at first, but it's nice being able to have a power threat up if we get anyone on base at the bottom of the order. And if you think about it, our leadoff position would be in constant flux without him there - we'd probably have had Theriot leading off for a while, and probably Fontenot now, and who knows in between. With Soriano there, you don't have to worry about it.

 

Theriot is a prototypical leadoff hitter, and Alfonso leading off is a waste of his talent.

 

a waste of his talent would be to sit him on the bench. its becoming redundant but he only leads off the beginning of the game. theriot is a protypical utility player. just because someone is a slap hitter doesnt mean they should lead off. a leadoff hitter should set the tone for the game, and a solo blast by fonz is about as tone setting as it gets.

[Skyballer]

I thought it was kind of dumb at first, but it's nice being able to have a power threat up if we get anyone on base at the bottom of the order. And if you think about it, our leadoff position would be in constant flux without him there - we'd probably have had Theriot leading off for a while, and probably Fontenot now, and who knows in between. With Soriano there, you don't have to worry about it.

 

Theriot is a prototypical leadoff hitter, and Alfonso leading off is a waste of his talent.

 

a waste of his talent would be to sit him on the bench. its becoming redundant but he only leads off the beginning of the game. theriot is a protypical utility player. just because someone is a slap hitter doesnt mean they should lead off. a leadoff hitter should set the tone for the game, and a solo blast by fonz is about as tone setting as it gets.

Yes but now he rarely has anyone to drive in.

[Andy]

The kid (Ryan) can hit singles once in a while. Period.

Fixed.

 

Look, I really like The Riot. I wish he were the fantastic, .400-OBP type guy you seem to think he is. He's one of the guys I like most on this team, and that's not something I say much about a person having a season as bad as he is. But he really is not that great. He shouldn't be playing everyday and he definitely shouldn't be leading off.

[Skyballer]

The kid (Ryan) can hit singles once in a while. Period.

Fixed.

 

Look, I really like The Riot. I wish he were the fantastic, .400-OBP type guy you seem to think he is. He's one of the guys I like most on this team, and that's not something I say much about a person having a season as bad as he is. But he really is not that great. He shouldn't be playing everyday and he definitely shouldn't be leading off.

So he slumped, everyone does. The last two starts he did well and the one before that he pulled off a difficult squeeze to give the Cubs the win.

End argument.

[Tracer Bullet]

I'm not a fan of Soriano leading off. I'd prefer to use his power later in the order b/c I do feel it's wasted in the #1 spot (Andy - you're not really arguing that we should have him hit first so that the 20% or so of the time that one of the 8 or 9 hitters is on base, he can drive them in, are you?). I can understand the arguments for hitting him lead off and heading into the season, when I thought DLee would be a good source of power and Barrett might come close to last season's power #s, I was ok with it.

 

But Aram has been hurt, DLee has shown very little power, and Barrett is gone (after not nearly matching his power from last year). We just don't have a lot of threats in the heart of our order (and Floyd is not threatening). I agree that we don't have a great lead off hitter on the team if we moved Soriano down, but it's not like Soriano is a great lead off hitter either (no more so than DLee would be with his .400-ish OBP).

 

I'd still prefer to put a guy like Murton first, & as of now, I'd put DLee second. Soriano 3rd and ARam 4. I suppose as long as Fontenot is hot, you could slide him into 2nd and move the other 3 down a spot or something. But right now, we're wasting one of our best power hitters b/c no one is ever on base when he comes up. And we don't have a lot of power to waste.

[Tracer Bullet]

The kid (Ryan) can hit singles once in a while. Period.

Fixed.

 

Look, I really like The Riot. I wish he were the fantastic, .400-OBP type guy you seem to think he is. He's one of the guys I like most on this team, and that's not something I say much about a person having a season as bad as he is. But he really is not that great. He shouldn't be playing everyday and he definitely shouldn't be leading off.

So he slumped, everyone does. The last two starts he did well and the one before that he pulled off a difficult squeeze to give the Cubs the win.

End argument.

 

You're pretty new here to be throwing around "period" and "end argument" as if your opinions are the only valid ones (b/c that's what they are - opinions) - especially when the argument is whether Theriot should be hitting 1st. I like Theriot and it'd be great if he could play ML SS and OBP .400, but I don't think that's the case (his MiLB numbers don't support such a claim at all). I don't know where you get off saying that there should be no argument about his ability to hit at this level b/c if anything, there's no argument about his inability to hit at this level (I'm not saying that's true either, but if it's one or the other, the evidence weighs against him).

[Skyballer]

I'm not a fan of Soriano leading off. I'd prefer to use his power later in the order b/c I do feel it's wasted in the #1 spot (Andy - you're not really arguing that we should have him hit first so that the 20% or so of the time that one of the 8 or 9 hitters is on base, he can drive them in, are you?). I can understand the arguments for hitting him lead off and heading into the season, when I thought DLee would be a good source of power and Barrett might come close to last season's power #s, I was ok with it.

 

But Aram has been hurt, DLee has shown very little power, and Barrett is gone (after not nearly matching his power from last year). We just don't have a lot of threats in the heart of our order (and Floyd is not threatening). I agree that we don't have a great lead off hitter on the team if we moved Soriano down, but it's not like Soriano is a great lead off hitter either (no more so than DLee would be with his .400-ish OBP).

 

I'd still prefer to put a guy like Murton first, & as of now, I'd put DLee second. Soriano 3rd and ARam 4. I suppose as long as Fontenot is hot, you could slide him into 2nd and move the other 3 down a spot or something. But right now, we're wasting one of our best power hitters b/c no one is ever on base when he comes up. And we don't have a lot of power to waste.

I love Murton but he is a number 2 hitter, sorry i have to disagree with you. Still remove Sori from the leadoff spot.

[Skyballer]

The kid (Ryan) can hit singles once in a while. Period.

Fixed.

 

Look, I really like The Riot. I wish he were the fantastic, .400-OBP type guy you seem to think he is. He's one of the guys I like most on this team, and that's not something I say much about a person having a season as bad as he is. But he really is not that great. He shouldn't be playing everyday and he definitely shouldn't be leading off.

So he slumped, everyone does. The last two starts he did well and the one before that he pulled off a difficult squeeze to give the Cubs the win.

End argument.

 

You're pretty new here to be throwing around "period" and "end argument" as if your opinions are the only valid ones (b/c that's what they are - opinions) - especially when the argument is whether Theriot should be hitting 1st. I like Theriot and it'd be great if he could play ML SS and OBP .400, but I don't think that's the case (his MiLB numbers don't support such a claim at all). I don't know where you get off saying that there should be no argument about his ability to hit at this level b/c if anything, there's no argument about his inability to hit at this level (I'm not saying that's true either, but if it's one or the other, the evidence weighs against him).

I apologize for saying what I said but I stand by my argument. True i was out of line though.

[SouthSideRyan]

The kid (Ryan) can hit singles once in a while. Period.

Fixed.

 

Look, I really like The Riot. I wish he were the fantastic, .400-OBP type guy you seem to think he is. He's one of the guys I like most on this team, and that's not something I say much about a person having a season as bad as he is. But he really is not that great. He shouldn't be playing everyday and he definitely shouldn't be leading off.

So he slumped, everyone does. The last two starts he did well and the one before that he pulled off a difficult squeeze to give the Cubs the win.

End argument.

 

End argument isn't going to help your argument at all.

 

Especially if you're referencing a 3 game stretch. Jose Macias had a 3 game stretch where he went something like 11-15 a few years back. 3 game stretches tell you nothing. I like Theriot, and he's a perfect utility guy, spot starter, but it's looking more and more like he's not an everyday guy.

[Skyballer]

The kid (Ryan) can hit singles once in a while. Period.

Fixed.

 

Look, I really like The Riot. I wish he were the fantastic, .400-OBP type guy you seem to think he is. He's one of the guys I like most on this team, and that's not something I say much about a person having a season as bad as he is. But he really is not that great. He shouldn't be playing everyday and he definitely shouldn't be leading off.

So he slumped, everyone does. The last two starts he did well and the one before that he pulled off a difficult squeeze to give the Cubs the win.

End argument.

 

End argument isn't going to help your argument at all.

 

Especially if you're referencing a 3 game stretch. Jose Macias had a 3 game stretch where he went something like 11-15 a few years back. 3 game stretches tell you nothing. I like Theriot, and he's a perfect utility guy, spot starter, but it's looking more and more like he's not an everyday guy.

Maybe I'm wrong, best I can say is it is simply my opinion, We'll see who's right. I have no idea who is. But I stand by my opinion

[treebird]

derrek "mr singles" lee would be a great leadoff man.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

derrek "mr singles" lee would be a great leadoff man.

 

Or a number two hitter...

[Skyballer]

derrek "mr singles" lee would be a great leadoff man.

 

Or a number two hitter...

or 3, where he is and perfect